New Year - #2

New Year's Day means more to me than New Year's Eve.  It has more symbolic value.  It has a different "feel", the same as Thanksgiving for me has more meaning than Christmas.

On 1/1/2000 I made it a personal mission to deliver some of my dad's ashes from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon.  It was a cold, snowy, scary drive but I had a purpose for that specific day.  I think that's where it started.  Regardless, I can remember more New Year's Days over the last decades than New Year's Eve's.

I had originally planned to drive to Raleigh today, as it would have been more convenient.  But I had one of those mid-morning "Duh" moments where it struck me that I don't want to spend the first day of this new year driving away from home and spending it in a hotel.  It's not about convenience.  It's about meaning.

I went for a nice long walk around downtown Charleston late this afternoon.  It was a beautiful day here (I posted some photos that I took with my iPhone on my SnapLog).  It was a quiet afternoon, not a lot of people out and about (big difference from yesterday) and it reminded me of why I enjoy it here so much, and why I didn't want to spent half the day in the car.

I went thru my wardrobe today, and ended up trying on some of my dresses.  I was glad to see that they  fit well.  I was pleased.  I still can't figure out the zipper thing, tho.  It seems to me that if you don't have somebody to help you you either need to be double jointed or you risk separating a shoulder trying to zip them.  Anyway, I hope to find more reasons to wear them over the coming year.

I'm also considering options for dating and where/how that would fit in my life going into 2013.  That has a number of important implications, and will require some decisions.  But that's a whole other conversation for a different time.

There was a parade in Charleston today to commemorate the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.  There was also the annual "Polar Bear Plunge" on Sullivan's Island, although the high here today was 65 degrees so it wasn't nearly the frigid endeavor it has been in years past, or in other places I've lived.  The fiscal cliff mess is ongoing.  And, of course, there's lots of football.

The fact that I put off my drive for a day means a number of things.  It means going to bed early, and getting up early (I'll set the alarm for 4:30).  It means that tomorrow will be a long day.  But I'm a big believer that sometimes you need to do what you need to do rather than what's convenient.  So, I'm making dinner, I'm packing, I've got a glass of wine on the table, I enjoyed the amazing end to the Outback Bowl, and it has turned out to be a New Year's Day that is be more memorable than forgettable.

In other news, I noticed that the long-standing, annual trans conference held each year in Chicago, Be All, has been cancelled (story here) after 30 years.  It has suffered the same fate as the IFGE Conference, and I don't think this will be the last of these to fade into history in the next couple of years.  The advent of smaller, regional events, other opportunities for sharing and developing community, and the economy take their toll.  The one event that I'd hate to see suffer that same fate is Southern Comfort and it continues to reassure me that it draws between 500-1,000 people each year.

I don't see that as a bad thing.  It means we're finding other ways to connect, or perhaps it hadn't changed with the times and lost relevance.  Regardless, it served an important purpose for a long time.

With that - I'll go make dinner, finish packing, and begin the process of settling in for the night.  As I say - tomorrow is going to be a long day.